Page 55 of Trouble

Louis covered the Jeep up with the tarp, then proceeded to pull out his phone and smash it with a rusty hammer he’d picked from the floor. Liam handed him his phone, and he repeated the process until there were two small piles of plastic and glass next to each other in thehay.

They both looked at me, and I inadvertently pressed a protective hand to the pocket that held my phone. My last anchor to a life that’d never involved made men or a need to flee the city. “Surely that’s notnecessary?”

* * *

When we crossedthe border to Wales in a third car somewhere close to midnight, but only after having crisscrossed a good part of England to throw off anyone still on our trail, I was feeling pretty damn dejected. It might have had something to do with the fact that I hadn’t had anything to eat other than three power bars all day, but I’d kind of given up holding it together since the twins made me surrender my phone. It was as if seeing my last connection to what I’d thought was reality smashed to pieces in front of me had finally made me realize how utterly and completely terrifying my situation was. I was far away from home, with two men I might trust to try and keep me safe but honestly didn’t know—two criminals, no less—and the mafia on our trail. The fact that neither Liam nor Louis said more than a few words to me or each other, and how their wildly uncharacteristic brooding filled the car with nervous energy, made it perfectly clear that they were worriedtoo.

We drove into the mountains along completely dark, winding farm roads for what felt like forever until finally, Louis pulled the car to a stop deep into what turned out to be dense woodland. When I crawled out, wincing as I got to stretch my cramping legs for the first time in hours, I could hear rushing water somewhere to my right, but I couldn’t see more than a hand ahead of me. Even the stars were blocked out by the heavy canopies aboveus.

Both twins flicked on a flashlight each. Liam handed me his, before he pulled out his heavy rucksack from the boot of the car and held out his free hand tome.

I hesitated to take it, and he snorted at myreluctance.

“The river you can hear to your right is at the bottom of a steep drop, and it’s got some nasty rocks around this bend. You familiar enough with the area to know where to step to avoid falling to yourdeath?”

I narrowed my eyes at him, but relented. I wasn’t much of a hiker on the best of days, let alone in pitch darkness after the most distressing day of my life. “I don’t even know where we are,” I muttered as I slipped my hand into his. The warm, safe sensation that coursed through me when he closed his fingers around mine was as comforting as it wasunwelcome.

It didn’t take more than ten minutes hiking through the uneven terrain for me to become grateful for Liam’s hand. Not that I saw anything of the supposedly deadly drop somewhere to our right, but his firm grip saved me from more than one twisted ankle. Roots and rocks seemed to pop up from the ground every few inches. Both twins moved across the uneven ground like damn mountain goats, even weighed down by their heavy packs, and I got the distinct impression that buildings weren’t the only thing they climbed in their freetime.

Free time from their criminal day job.Christ.

It felt like we’d walked for-absolute-ever when the woods finally opened up and the twins slowed to astop.

The stars spread out above us like the most stunning patchwork ever, and despite my exhaustion and general unease, the sight of it made me gasp in in awe. I wasn’t much of a camper, to put it mildly, and it’d been a very, very long time since I’d seen the night sky without city lights dimming its jaw-droppingbeauty.

“We’re here,” Liam said. He gave my hand a small squeeze, and I pulled my gaze from the stars above to settle on the clearing in front of us. I couldn’t see it all in the illuminated cone from my flashlight, but it looked like we were standing in front of an ancient shack consisting of uneven rock walls and a patchy roof with a small chimney sticking up. It could have been taken straight out of the early Middle Ages—even though I was pretty sure they had doors even back then. This little shack just had an opening in the side with nothing to coverit.

A sinking feeling settled in below my ribs. “We’rewhere,exactly?”

“Home sweet home.” Louis sounded awfully cheerful all of a sudden, and I had the feeling it was because of my less than thrilled demeanor. I shot him a glare that he completely ignored as he moved into the shack and let his flashlight move around the small space. “Ah, we’re in luck. No rats’ nests, and the firewood’s still here from last time wecame.”

Rats’ nests?I turned my head to stare at Liam in horror. Surely this was some kind ofjoke.

“It’s a mountain bothy,” Liam explained. “They’re set up around the country for anyone to use. This one hardly ever gets any traffic, so we picked it for our emergency plan. We’ll be able to hide out here until Blaine gets in touch, without our dad findingus.”

No wonder it never got any traffic—I looked back at the small hut and shuddered. I don’t know what I’d expected, but it certainly wasn’tthis.

The last—and only—time I’d been camping, I’d been seven. My dad had gotten the great idea to take the family to a campsite on the coast. We’d stayed in a nice camping wagon, but my mum had complained about the communal showers and tight living quarters non-stop for two days until he finally gave up and drove us all to the nearest hotel. I wasn’t a nature girl in any way, shape, orform.

But then again, not getting killed by the mafia might rank higher than comfortable accommodation, I told myself as I drew in a big breath and finally walked inside. Even if onlyslightly.

The hut had a dirt floor and a small fireplace. And that wasit.

Louis was currently kneeling in front of said fireplace, messing with some tinder. It didn’t take him long to get a small fire started that lit up the tiny space. It was maybe ten by six feet, with the open doorway located at the other end to thefireplace.

Liam dropped his heavy pack next to Louis’ by the far wall and stretched his strong body with a sigh. “Right, let’s get some food on. You hungry,Audrey?”

“I could eat a horse.” I rubbed a hand against my growling belly. “But if all you’ve got are more protein bars, I’llpass.”

“Nah, we packed actual food.” Louis flashed me a smile. “And coffee… No horses,though.”

The promise of coffee made me perk up just a little. “Okay, great. Hey, where’s thebathroom?”

Liam rummaged through his pack and pulled up a small shovel and a roll of brown toilet paper that he held out toward me. “Turn left once you’re out of the bothy—the forest is more even in that direction, but don’t go toofar.”

I stared at him. “You havegotto be kiddingme.”

He looked genuinely surprised for a moment, but then lit up in a grin when my horrified expression finally clicked. “You’re a proper city girl,huh?”

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